Jake La Botz is an American blues singer, songwriter, actor and meditation teacher from Beacon. He is raised in Chicago, where he grows up around the city’s multicultural music scene and later develops an interest in punk rock and the blues. As a teenager, he begins playing guitar, busks at Maxwell Street, and works with Chicago blues figures including Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis, Homesick James and Honeyboy Edwards, who become important mentors.

Early life and musical background

La Botz attends public school through ninth grade before discovering punk rock, which he identifies with for its emotional directness. He also spends time moving around the United States, taking construction jobs and staying around punk shows, hobo camps and libraries. When he is back in Chicago, he plays and busks around Maxwell Street and learns from the local blues scene. He later travels through the Mississippi Delta and other parts of the South, performing on streets and in juke joints, and also makes occasional trips to Europe.

Recording career

La Botz records original material independently and with labels. His releases include The Original Soundtrack To My Nightmare on Spinout Records, Used to Be, a self-released acoustic project, and All Soul and No Money on Joseph Street Records. All Soul and No Money is produced by La Botz and engineered by Todd Burke, whose credits include work with Ben Harper, Jack Johnson and Gary Jules. The album is recorded at Hollywood Sound and Sunset Sound Factory.

Acting work

His steady performances in bars, blues clubs, tattoo parlours and gospel churches bring attention from the independent film world, and he develops an acting career. His best-known role is in Animal Factory, directed by Steve Buscemi, where he plays a blues-singing convict and performs two original songs. He also contributes songs to soundtracks and appears in several other films, including Lonesome Jim, another Buscemi project.

Style and associations

La Botz is associated with blues, rock, soul and dark folk. His background combines Chicago blues, punk rock and a life spent moving between cities, highways and performance spaces, and he is linked closely with the older blues musicians he meets in Chicago.